High School Football: La Salle, St. Joseph's Prep set for prime-time showdown Saturday

WHITEMARSH – If Drew Gordon didn’t already know the magnitude of Saturday night’s showdown between his La Salle High Explorers and the Hawks of Saint Joseph’s Prep (7 p.m. at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School), he’s got friends and acquaintances only too happy to remind him.

“I went to get tickets (Thursday),” Gordon said, “and was told there aren’t that many left. Then I had somebody ask me to get them six.

“It looks like there’s going to be a lot of people there.”

With good reason.The unbeaten Explorers (6-0, 2-0) and the unbeaten Hawks (5-0, 1-0) are not only the class of the Philadelphia Catholic League’s AAAA Division this year, they’re arguably two of the best football teams in the state. The two schools, which used to clash on Thanksgiving Day, are bitter rivals and this year are almost certain to meet again in the PCL finals.

But suggest that Saturday’s game is huge, and you’ll get a pretty good argument to the contrary – from the teams’ two head coaches.

“Fans are going to do what fans do, and that’s to get excited about certain games,” said Prep head coach Gabe Infante. “They’re going to talk about who’s better and they’re going to follow the rankings, and all of that is great.

“This is an important game for us, but it’s important because it’s the next game. It’s a great opportunity for us to play a great program. But our approach has been consistent from the start of the season – every game is the most important game. And I’m sure if you asked Drew, he’d tell you the same thing.”

Not surprisingly, Gordon does feel exactly the same way.

“It’s an important game and we’re looking at it as our toughest game to date,” Gordon said. “We’re pretty excited. But it’s not like we’re putting everything on the line for this game.

“We’re still experimenting with our players, our packages and our plays, and I’m sure (the Prep) is doing the same thing. It’s only all on the line in the playoffs.”

Still, there’s no getting around those in attendance will be seeing two of the state’s best teams.

The Explorers, who have reached at least the PIAA Class AAAA Eastern finals in each of the last three seasons (winning the state crown in 2009), are in the midst of another terrific season, winning six games over tough competition by an average of better than 25 points per game.

But after a couple of relatively down seasons, the Prep is back among the eastern elite, winning five straight over the likes of perennial Florida powerhouse Cocoa High, Gonzaga (D.C.), returning state finalist North Penn and returning state champion Archbishop Wood.

“They’re a different team than they were the last two years,” Gordon said, “and that’s a tribute to Gabe. He kind of had a tough time when he got there (taking over the program relatively late in the process two seasons ago after former head coach Gil Brooks did not return).

“But now you see them and they’re so organized, confident and they make very few mistakes. And that’s the mark of a well-coached team. He’s got them all on his page.”

Part of the process of getting his team all on his page, to use Gordon’s description, was a calculated move by Infante, who before leaving Paramus Catholic to coach the Hawks was the defensive coordinator at New Jersey power Bergen Catholic.

“We take a very calculated, mental approach to the game,” Infante said. “Our focus is playing our game and doing what we do better than the team we’re playing against does what they do.

“One of the reasons for our success is that we’ve played our game. We don’t want to be successful, we want to be excellent.

“We believe if we perform well, we’ll be happy with the results. This is no disrespect to La Salle. They have a great program and I think Coach Gordon is the best coach in the state of Pennsylvania. But we’re going to do what we do, no matter who we play.”

As for the game’s nuts and bolts, the Hawks have impressed Gordon with both their execution and their tenacity.

“They’re not necessarily fast, but they are very quick,” Gordon said, “and they have some very good players. Offensively, they run the no-huddle spread very well, and it takes great precision to do that.”

The spread is orchestrated by quarterback Chris Martin (587 passing yards, 275 rushing yards), who will give the ball to both Vincent Moffett (56 carries, 348 yds.) and Olamide Zaccheaus (49 carries, 318 yds.) or throw it in the direction of Jawan McAllister (19 catches, 159 yds.). Sophomore playmaker John Reid is a threat whenever he touches the ball, and the Prep gets him the ball in a variety of ways.

The Hawks defense is led by lineman Thomas Johnson, linebacker Todd Jones and defensive back Dan Sherry.

“Defensively, they’ll move their fronts around and show you a lot of different coverages,” Gordon said. “And they’re very organized. They do what they do in the flow of the game, with very few mistakes.”

What has impressed Infante most about the Explorers is their offensive balance.

“They do a lot of things well,” Infante said, “and when you see a team that does so many things, it’s usually a team that’s been successful for a long time, which La Salle has been.

“I’ve been a defensive coordinator for 17 years, and when people ask me what the toughest offense to defend is, it’s a balanced offense that executes. And that’s La Salle.

“Their backs run hard to the point of attack, you rarely see penalties or sacks and they execute their game plan. They believe in their system, they’re not going to change who they are.

“We need to play good, fundamental defense, run to the ball and we have to tackle, we have to get them to ground. We want to put them in third and long as often as we can.”

The Explorers’ offense is led by quarterback Chris Kane (82-for-123, 1,341 yds., 16 TDs), who likes to get the ball in the hands of both Sean Coleman (25 catches, 466 yds.) and Jimmy Herron (20 catches, 349 yds.).

And so the stage is set for the first of what may well be two titanic contests between two potent programs.

For trivia buffs, the Explorers have run off 15 straight wins in league play, with their last loss coming to – of course, the Prep – back in 2009.